Roles on external bodies

Editorial Board - Psyche: A Journal of EntomologyAquatic Coleoptera Conservation Trust - ACCT. ACCT was founded to promote and co-ordinate conservation and research work on threatened water beetles. Aquatic beetles are a diverse group, and are excellent indicators of habitat quality, age, and 'naturalness'. Around 400 species of British beetle live in water for a significant proportion of their lives, including the familiar diving beetles. Many species have shown significant and dramatic contractions in range since the mid 20th century, in response to a variety of factors, particularly agricultural intensification and associated drainage of wetlands and increases in diffuse pollution, leading to eutrophication. (Secretary) . Ponds Advisory Council. International body concerned with the biology and conservation of small water bodies. Ponds harbour the vast majority of regional aquatic biodiversity in most countries, but are often ignored by ecologists, who study the larger (and often ecologically simpler!) lakes and rivers instead. (Member).

Oniscus asellus occidentalis Bilton, 1994Terrestrial isopod (woodlouse), known from the UK, Ireland and France, first recognized in Dartmoor woodlands. Frequently hydridizes with the common Oniscus asellus asellus where the two meet.

Hydraena zezerensis Diaz-Pazos & Bilton, 1995A hydraenid water beetle with elaborate male secondary sexual characters - endemic to a single headwater stream at the top of a glacial valley in Portugal's highest mountain massif, the Serra Estrela. Still known from knowhere else - one of the rarest water beetles in Europe.

Hydraena hosseiniorum Bilton & Jach, 1998Hydraenid water beetle endemic to the Zagros Mountains in western Iran - the most easterly member of its group.

Stictonectes rebeccae Bilton, 2012A diving beetle endemic to the north and west of Spain and Portugal.

Discozantaena occidentalis Bilton & Perkins, 2012A small 'water' beetle which has become secondarily terrestrial, living in damp litter by water. Known only from a single waterhole in West Coast National park, on the Western Cape of South Africa.

Pneuminion fontinalis Bilton & Perkins, 2012Another small water beetle, restricted to permanent trickles of water, running like condensation on a window pane, in the high mountains near Paarl in the Western Cape of South Africa.

Crenitis bicolor Bilton, 2013A hydrophilid water beetle so far only known from the high Kamiesberg in the Northern Cape of South Africa, an outlying fragment of the fynbos biome in arid Namaqualand.

Hydraena lotti Bilton, 2013A small stream dwelling water beetle which I found to be common in high altitude streams in a very small area of the Taygetos Mountains in the Peloponnese, Greece. The 92 member of the "Haenydra" lineage, most of which are similarly narrow-ranged endemics. Its closest relatives are in eastern Greece and central Italy.

Prosthetops wolfbergensis Bilton, 2013Yet another water beetle, which at 4.2 mm long is by far the largest known 'minute moss beetle' amongst the thousands described to date. Relatively widespread in the Western Cape mountains in South Africa, occurring in temporary pools where rainwater has dissolved bare rock. Named after the Wolfberg Arch, a striking geological feature of the Cederberg mountains, in whose shadow the beetle was abundant.

Sharphydrus brincki Bilton, 2013A small diving beetle endemic to the Western Cape of South Africa, in mountain streams. The third known member of this genus, which is endemic to temperate South Africa. Named after the late Professor Per Brinck, who first collected this species in the early 1950s.

Sharphydrus kamiesbergensis Bilton, 2013A small diving beetle so far only known from the high Kamiesberg in the Northern Cape of South Africa - the fourth known species of the genus.

Pterosthetops baini Bilton, 2014A specialist of wet rock faces, living in a trickles of water and so far known from a single mountain pass in the Cape of South Africa. Named after the guy who directed the pass's construction in the 19th century, making accessible habitat available for these beetles in the process!

Pterosthetops coriaceus Bilton, 2014A wet-rock seepage specialist, found only at a single site in the Cederberg mountains in South Africa.

Pterosthetops indwei Bilton, 2014Another wet-rock seepage specialist, known from the Langeberg and Outeniquaberg mountains in South Africa - named after the Blue Crane, an iconic bird of this part of the Cape.

Pterosthetops pulcherrimus Bilton, 2014Another wet-rock seepage specialist, this time known from one wet mountain pass in the Cederberg of South Africa. Named in reference to its strinking appearance, and the view form the type locality.

Pterosthetops swartbergensis Bilton, 2014Another wet-rock seepage specialist, found, as its name suggests, in the Groote Swartberg, South Africa.

Pterosthetops uitkyki Bilton, 2014Again a wet-rock seepage specialist, known only from Uitkyk Pass in the Cederberg range, South Africa.

Laccobius leopardus Bilton & Gentili, 2014

Lives in pools in drying river margins on the edge of the Cederberg mountains in South Africa, an area transitional between fynbos and succulent karoo. Named after the leopards which frequent the area, and in reference to its spotted appearance.

Mesoceration hantam Bilton, 2014

From temporary pools and stream on the Hantamsberg, an inselberg in the Northern Cape of South Africa.

Parhydraena faeni Bilton, 2014

Again from temporary pools and stream on the Hantamsberg, an inselberg in the Northern Cape of South Africa.

Yola matsikammae Bilton, 2015

From a stream on the Matsikammaberg, another inselberg, this time on the northern edge of the Fynbos biome in the Western Cape of South Africa.

Capelatus prykei Turner &Bilton, 2015

An entirely new lineage of diving beetle from close to Cape Town. Not related to anything else in sub-Saharan Africa, its closest relatives being in the Mediterranean and Australasia. Also highly endangered by ongoing urbanisation and habitat loss.

Canthyporus namaqualacrimus Bilton, 2015

The name translates as "the tears of Namaqualand". A diving beetle known from seepages over rock in the highest mountains of this arid region of the Northern Cape. These summits present a mesic island in an otherwise semi-desert landscape, and a re home to many endemics.

Canthyporus pallidus Bilton, 2015

A small diving beetle of wet rock seepages and small rockpools on mountains around the edges of Namaqualand, South Africa.

Mesoceration caniplenum Bilton, 2015

A water beetle from trickling streams in the SE of the Drakensberg, South Africa. It's name is in reference to the type locality, Injisuthi, which means 'place of the well-fed dog' in isiZulu, in reference to the formerly abundant game of this area.

Mesoceration foggoi Bilton, 2015

A water beetle endemic to a table mountain at the northern end of the Fynbos biome in South Africa, where it is common in almost all running waters. Named after Andy Foggo, who helped collect it.

Mesoceration helmei Bilton, 2015

Known only from the high Winterhoek mountains in the Cape, in a small stream which spends a couple of months every year under snow. Named after Nick Helme, the South African botanist who dragged me up this mountain!

Mesoceration hirsutum Bilton, 2015

Yet another new species from the Cederberg Mountains, South Africa. Only known from the holotype, in a high altitude stream, where it lived with nine other members of the genus.

Mesoceration rugulosum Bilton, 2015

Known only from a wet rockface beside a mountain stream above Franschhoek, South Africa.

Mesoceration sinclairi Bilton, 2015

Common in a stream flowing down the Kogelberg into False Bay, in the far SW Cape of South Africa. Names after my old friend Magnus Sinclair.

Coelometopon glenavoni Bilton, 2015

Found on wet cliffs in the pray zone of Glen Avon Falls, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Eyes raised up like a hippo so that it can see out of the water film in which it lives.

Oomtelecopon disjunctum Bilton, 2015

A beetle from damp rocks beside a road close to Ceres in the Western Cape - the third new species so far from this place. It's only close relative lives close to Cape Town.

Oomtelecopon namaqum Bilton, 2016

A beetle from damp rocks beside a stream in the Kamiesberg mountains - an area of relatively high rainfall, supporting fynbos, in Namaqualand.

Pterostetops nitidus Bilton, 2016

Wet rockface specialist from the eastern side of False Bay, Western Cape Province, South Africa.

Anacaena namaqua Bilton & Komarek, 2016

A common species where it occurs, in both pools and streams, in the area where the fynbos biome meets the succulent karoo in South Africa.

Hydrobiomorpha perissinottoi Bilton, 2016

The first species of this genus of relatively large water scavenger beetles reliably reported from South Africa. Common in iSimangaliso Wetland Park in the NE of the country.

Leielmis gibbosus Bilton, 2017

A relatively common riffle beetle in Western Cape mountain streams, which has previously been overlooked.

Leielmis hirsutus Bilton, 2017

One high altitude stream at ca. 1,200 m in the Western cape of South Africa. Common there.

Pterosthetops chrysomallus Bilton, 2017

Wet rock faces on the Bokkeveld Plateau, at the northern fringes of the Fynbos Biome in South Africa.

Parasthetops porcellus Bilton, 2017

Widespread on the Bokkeveld Plateau, at the northern fringes of the Fynbos Biome in South Africa.

Mesoceration castaneus Bilton, 2017

One male from a stream on the Bokkeveld Plateau, at the northern fringes of the Fynbos Biome in South Africa.

Mesoceration chasmum Bilton, 2017

Found in Oorlogskloof Canyon, on the Bokkeveld Plateau, at the northern fringes of the Fynbos Biome in South Africa.

Mesoceration sabulosum Bilton, 2017

Two steams over sand on the Bokkeveld Plateau, at the northern fringes of the Fynbos Biome in South Africa.

Meladema lepidoptera Bilton & Ribera, 2017

A cryptic sibling of the widespread large diving beetle Meladema coriacea. First detected from DNA sequence data, and subsequently found to differ morphologically as well. Restricted to parts of Italy and the Tuscan Archipelago.

Neptosternus biltoni Hendrich and Balke, 1997A small diving beetle from forest streams on one of the Togian Islands, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. The adjacent island had a different species, also new to science at the time.

Helophorus biltoni Angus, Mahdizadeh & Hosseinie, 2005A small crawling water beetle endemic to the Zagros Mountains in western Iran, where I first collected it in the late 1990s. It has close relatives on the Golan Heights, and in Spain.

Hydraena biltoni Jach & Diaz-Pazos, 2012A small water beetle currently known only from a handful of places in central Montenegro. Closely related to the widespread Hydraena morio, which also occurs in the region, but not, so far, in the same localities.

Galicisoma biltoni Mauries, 2015

A winter-active millipede I found back in 1993 in a relict Atlantic oak woodland in Galicia in the far northwest of Spain.

Ochthebius biltoniJach & Delgado, 2017 A marine rockpool species I found in Sicily a few years ago.

Another water beetle and a centipede are currently on their way..........

Teaching

Teaching interests

I am interested in a range of questions related to biogeography, conservation and evolution, particularly using aquatic invertebrates as models. Much of my teaching reflects my research interests, covering topics such as macroecology and biogeography, aquatic conservation, biological species concepts and speciation, and arthropod zoology. I teach on courses to all three undergraduate years, and supervise a range of BSc and MSc/MRes projects.

Stage 1

MBIO121 Life on Earth - Overview of the diversity of life, covering microbes, fungi, algae, plants and animals, plus some material on behaviour. I cover the arthropods - the most important animals on earth. Also Module Leader.

MBIO120 Introduction to Marine Biology - What it says on the tin. I am heavily involved in field week, and lead field sampling trips to a number of locations in the region.

BIOL124PP Biology of Sex - Want to know about sexual conflict, what diving beetles can tell us about it how why Darwin got it wrong? This is all covered in my section of this module.

MBIO123 Marine Biology Field Course - I attend this residential course in Brittany each year, and do some of the taxonomy practicals before we go.

Stage 2

BIOL214 Ecology - An up-to-date exploration of the fundamental principles of population and community ecology. I teach community ecology from a large-scale, or macroecological, perspective, examining the assembly of communities, island biogeography, adaptive radiation, biodiversity and ecosystem function, and asking why most species are rare, and why there are there are more species of organisms in the tropics?

MBIO213 Coastal Biodiversity and Ecology Fieldcourse - An exploration of biodiversity in a coastal setting, currently in one of the World's Biodiversity Hotspots, on the western Cape of South Africa. I attend this residential course each year.

Stage 3

MBIO324 Speciation and Diversity - What is a species? How do new species originate? What generates and maintains the diversity of life? How do we quantify this biodiversity? What are the ecological and evolutionary processes which underpin global patterns in biodiversity? Does biodiversity matter? An up-to-date exploration of the nature and generation of biological diversity, examining model taxa from a wide range of habitats and groups. I co-ordinate this course and teach biological species concepts and speciation.

BIOL304 Global Change Biology - what it says on the tin. Mostly on the causes and consequences of current global change. I deliver three lectures on Quaternary climate change and biological responses to ice ages, to give a wider historical/evolutionary context to ongoing change.

I supervise a range of projects in aquatic biology, ecology and evolution - typically 6-10 students per year.

Module leader for:

MBIO121 Life on Earth

MBIO324 Speciation and Diversity

Personal Tutor

For approx.10 students in each year

Research

Research interests

My work addresses a range of questions in aquatic biology, using both freshwater and marine organisms as model systems, but with a particular focus on water beetles. Much of my research focuses on attempts to understand the geographical distribution and evolutionary differentiation of organisms at a number of spatial scales. Specific areas of interest include:Macroecology and macrophysiology of aquatic invertebrates. What determines relative geographical range size - why are most species rare? Testing hypotheses of rarity, using selected clades of aquatic insects as model systems. Investigation of thermal tolerance across clades containing both widespread and restricted endemic taxa. Unravelling the mechanisms underlying differences in thermal tolerance.

Systematics and evolution of aquatic beetles. I work extensively on the taxonomy and systematics of water beetles, in various families and regions, with a particular focus on the Western Palaearctic and Southern Africa. I have also co-authored a recent Royal Entomological Society/Field Studies Council guide the British and Irish hydrophiloid water beetles, and am working on a further guide to remaining aquatic taxa, as well as being a co-author on the forthcoming atlas of British and Irish Hydradephaga (predaceous water beetles).Ecology and conservation of temporary waters. The invertebrate assemblages of temporary and fluctuating water bodies. Exploration of factors structuring communities at regional and local scales. The use of aquatic insects as biodiversity surrogates and indicator taxa in conservation.Dispersal biology of aquatic invertebrates. Causes and consequences of dispersal in aquatic invertebrates. Ecology and conservation of aquatic Coleoptera (water beetles). Evolution and ecology of aquatic beetles. Sexual conflict in diving beetles. Conservation biology of threatened taxa. Use of aquatic beetles as surrogates in ecosystem assessment and monitoring. Water beetle systematics and phylogeny.

Systematics and Biodiversity of South African water beetles. Fieldwork in poorly known areas of this biodiverse region is combined with taxonomic and systematic work, which has resulted in the discovery of numerous new species and genera. Collaborators: Prof. Renzo Perissonotto (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa), Manfred Jach (Vienna Natural History Museum, Austria), Michael Balke (Zoologische Staatsammlung, Munich, Germany), Ignacio Ribera (CSIC, Barcelona).

Publications

Bilton DT & Ribera I2017'A revision of Meladema diving beetles (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae), with the description of a new species from the central Mediterranean based on molecules and morphology'ZooKeys702,45-112, DOIPEARL

Bilton DT & Foster GN2016'Observed shifts in the contact zone between two forms of the diving beetle Hydroporus memnonius are consistent with predictions from sexual conflict'PeerJ4,e2089-e2089Author Site, DOIPEARL

Bilton DT2013'Description of the male of Sebasthetops omaliniformis Jach, 1998-a phylogenetically isolated water beetle from South Africa, with notes on its ecology (Coleoptera, Hydraenidae)'ZOOTAXA3635,(1)94-100Author Site, DOI

Bilton DT2013'Hydraena lotti sp nov., a new member of the "Haenydra" lineage from the Peloponnese (Greece), with additional records of Hydraena species in the region (Coleoptera, Hydraenidae)'ZOOTAXA3637,(1)29-38Author Site, DOI

Bilton DT2013'Prosthetops wolfbergensis sp nov.-a giant amongst the 'minute moss beetles', with new data on other members of the genus (Coleoptera, Hydraenidae)'ZOOTAXA3666,(3)345-357Author Site, DOI

Ribera I, Bilton DT & Vogler AP2003'Mitochondrial DNA phylogeography and population history of Meladema diving beetles on the Atlantic Islands and in the Mediterranean basin (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae)'Molecular Ecology12,(1)153-167

BILTON DT1994'PHYLOGEOGRAPHY AND RECENT HISTORICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY OF HYDROPORUS-GLABRIUSCULUS AUBE (COLEOPTERA, DYTISCIDAE) IN THE BRITISH-ISLES AND SCANDINAVIA'BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY51,(3)293-307Author Site, DOI

BILTON DT1993'A MORPHOMETRIC STUDY OF THE DIVING BEETLE HYDROPORUS-GLABRIUSCULUS (COLEOPTERA, DYTISCIDAE) IN WESTERN-EUROPE, INCLUDING A COMPARISON OF MORPHOLOGICAL AND GENETIC-DIVERGENCE PATTERNS'ZOOLOGISCHER ANZEIGER231,(3-4)111-124Author Site

BILTON DT1992'A new species of Oniscus Linnaeus, 1758 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Oniscidea) from northern Spain, with a revised key to members of the genus'Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society104,(2)117-125, DOI